Archive for the 'Memory Lane: My favourite past' Category

The wildlife parks are a treasure trove of memories for almost every family here in Singapore.

Whenever someone mentions the Singapore Zoo or Jurong Bird Park, I cannot help to recall my early memories and unforgettable moments with my family at these wildlife parks.

One of my best #MyMandai moments was during one of my primary school excursions where I had my photo taken with an orang utan. The very thought of bringing back the polaroid photo to show my parents and siblings made me beam with pride.

Yes, it was a big deal to me back then.

Gosh.

I have been to the zoos many times playing different roles each time – as a daughter, student, preschool teacher, primary school teacher, mummy, and of course, as a proud Singaporean. Indeed, I have had many great #MyMandai moments over the years.

IF ONLY I COULD FIND ALL THE OLD PHOTOS AND SHARE THEM WITH YOU! URGH.

They went to the zoo with their teachers and friends when they were preschoolers.

They went to the zoo recently when they are already in primary school!

It’s like, you can never say no to spending quality family time there because there are just so many activities to do and animals to look at.

And it’s especially fun when you get to show off your intelligence once in a while to your kids by telling them things they do not know about the certain species of animals there. And then they will go, “Wahhhhhhhhh!” or “Really Mummy? I didn’t know that!” HAHAH. Kids these days are too smart; we need opportunities to outsmart them sometimes.

Them with the fake crocodile.

And following picture was taken by Sharleez during her school excursion.

Real crocodile! She went home and showed me this photo ever so proudly! She was like, “Mummy, I took picture of a real crocodile! Can you believe it?” This is definitely Sharleez’s very own #MyMandai moment.

It’s very exciting to know that the Mandai area will be rejuvenated into a complete nature destination. I was informed that they are hoping to bring the Bird Park over and add more nature attractions in the Mandai area! The first phase of this rejuvenation will be completed in 2020. This is definitely awesome! Imagine having all the wildlife parks within the same area!

How about you?

What are your #MyMandai moments? Was it a school excursion when you were young, or a recent trip with your family? Well, now you can get rewarded by just sharing your photos. , just by sharing your #MyMandai moment, you will get a S$10 voucher. That’s not all – the most moving entry every week gets S$100 voucher. So go share your photos now at http://www.mymandai.com . I have submitted mine, go check out the website now. I had a great time browsing all the memories from different visitors – some even dated as far back as 1970s! How precious!

And it is true.

When I look at Sharleez’s friendship with her BFF ever since Nursery 1, Natasha Lim, I am convinced that true friendship does exist after all.

(Flashback 1: Look at how tiny they were back then. This was during Sharleez’s 4th!)

(Flashback 2: This was when they were still in Kidz Meadow. Happy times! )

(Flashback 3: During National Day celebration in Kidz Meadow!)

It is just too beautiful, their friendship.

There are few things Sharleez and Natasha love more than hanging out with each other. If it were up to them to decide, I know that they would never leave their each other’s side, even for a second. I know that they would want be together all the time. When we had to end our play date session yesterday at Natasha’s, I could see how upset both Natasha and Sharleez were. Such a heartbreaking sight, and I am not even exaggerating here.

(Flashback 4: During our playdate session at Natasha’s house yesterday!)

Kids being kids, admire, respect, and trust their friends unconditionally. They look forward to their arrival, and they miss them when they are gone. Sure, life gets busier for both Sharleez and Natasha now that they are already in primary school, but they still manage to keep in touch with one another somehow, somewhat. Actually, that was the main reason why I got Sharleez a handphone; so that she can keep in touch with Natasha via Whatsapp at least once a week when she gets to use the phone. I only allow her to use the handphone on Saturdays, from 10 am to 8 pm, for your information. So each time she gets to use the handphone, the first thing she will do is to go to Whatsapp to message Natasha! LOL. (I am always so tempted to check their messages each time, but at the same time, I know that my daughter deserves that bit of privacy.)

(Flashback 5: They bumped into each other at Popular bookstore during the December holidays!)

Kids are not complicated at all. They do not live their life trying to impress anyone or everyone around them. And when they develop a friendship, they are really genuine about it. One wonderful thing about kids is that they are extremely forgiving. One minute they can be fighting over a game or toy, and the next minute they will be hugging as if nothing ever happened. It is a scenario that every mother who has ever been on a playdate with her children can attest to, but it is that attitude of forgiveness that we adults often don’t practise ourselves in our everyday life. Kids do not hate. Kids do not bear grudges. Kids do not hold back. Adults do, most of the time.

So who is the real grown up here?

(Flashback 6: Lunch date after school.)

(Flashback 7: During Natasha’s 6th birthday celebration in school.)

Fine, their displays of anger or sadness might be very pretty dramatic at times. They are really great at letting out those waterworks too. But shouldn’t we give them credit for allowing themselves to feel what they feel? Shouldn’t we give them credit for acknowledging their emotions?

If only we could possess the same qualities as children. If only we could just make life less complicated. If only we could just express ourselves as openly without the other party bearing any grudges towards us. The truth about the truth is that that most of us could use a little more of it in our daily lives. But instead of doing so, we bottle up our feelings, conceal them from others, or we shove them away. When someone upsets us, we choose to express our feeling of discontentment to someone else instead. And then we will also expect them to know what we are feeling.

(Flashback 8: During their K2 Graduation Ceremony.)

What we do not realize is that expressing ourselves more will actually allow us to accept our feelings as being perfectly valid. Openly expressing our feelings will make communication easier and maintain sincerity in our life.

And sincerity is one key factor in any healthy friendship.

In return, a healthy friendship is one of the keys to happiness. No matter how busy, we should never let our busy schedules keep us from the people we care about most.

But of course, there is no crystal ball to predict whether a particular friend will turn out to be reliable or trustworthy. Some friends may disappoint from the start, and some friends may change suddenly because of what’s going on in their lives or because of changes in their personality. And sometimes, some friends just cannot afford to give us that one key thing called sincerity.

Some friends are just beyond my understanding. Everything also they want to compete. Everything also they want to be better than the rest. But when their friends are better than them, they pretend not to know. Being genuinely happy or congratulating their friends in return is definitely not in their dictionary. #justsaying

“As we grow up, we realize it becomes less important to have more friends, and more important to have real ones.”

So what if things somehow go awry in the friendship?

CRY FIRST, THEN LAUGH AND MOVE ON, JUST LIKE HOW THE KIDS DO IT.

At the end of the day, the fact remains that we adults cannot handle friendship as well as them kids.

SHAME ON US? :S

May this beautiful friendship last and stay as beautiful as you girls! 🙂

“True friendship is not being inseparable. It’s being separated and nothing changes.”

Do you ever wonder what you would do if you could turn back the hands of time? Would you have done certain things differently? Would things be a far cry from the life you live today?

Most of us feel that time moved very slowly when we were children, and is gradually speeding up as we grow older.

Don’t we just wish that our kids would never grow up, and still stay as they were yesterday?

Don’t we wish that we could relive our childhood once again, and say ‘I love you’ more often to our parents?

Don’t we wish that we had listened to our parents more?

Don’t we wish that we had hugged them more?

DON’T WE?

We will never know what tomorrow will bring. It’s the present moment that matters the most.

If only for a moment we could freeze time so that we could look over and savour our loved ones, wouldn’t it be awesome?

But what’s left today?

Memories…and possibly some regrets too.

My parents used to be really protective of us. Back then when me and my siblings were still small, we would go everywhere with my parents. E V E R Y W H E R E .

I love this picture of me and Sofian so much. Missing those good old days where we were just so young and carefree.

Dress too short?

NEVER MIND! WHO CARES?

Slanted fringe?

NEVER MIND! WHO CARES AGAIN?

As you can see, I started young. The funny faces I make when taking photos, I mean.

The following picture was taken a day after my mum came back from the hospital. She just gave birth to Ili at that point of time. I remember not wanting to go to school on that day because I wanted to stay at home and babysit Ili. Ili, if you are reading this, you should be touched.

This picture below was taken during Hari Raya. Just look at the smirk on my face, and my super thin (and ewwwww) eyebrows. At this point of time, I was at my rebellious stage, forever waiting to say no to my parents for anything and everything. LOL.

But let us not just focus on me. Look at everyone else. Look at how innocent Shafiq and Ili looked! Nice sling bag, Ili! Eh I forgot something. Sofian too was at his playful stage at this point. LOL.

And that was my late grandmother. I miss her so much. I used to be so so soooooooo attached to her. Al-fateha. 🙁

Who would have thought that this beautiful couple would be my parents?

I am not too sure whether my parents had already planned to have four kids at this point of time.

But this was my mum pregnant with me!

And who would have thought that my dad (with his ‘smashing’ outfit as seen in the picture) would be making the Super Shiok sambal at the later part of his life? LOL.

This picture was taken during my first birthday bash. Check out my helmet hair.

Hmm. I just realized that my right eye is smaller than my left eye.

ANYWAY.

From an only child to the big sister to three younger siblings.

HAHA! Ili has to stop cracking me up. Check out her pouch! And check out our leggings. So colourful!

And over time, we had more addition to the family.

The family is even bigger now.

The following picture was taken when I was still dating Tatek! He was serving NS at that point of time, hence the super ‘fair’ skin. The little boy Tatek was carrying is Aqil, his nephew.

I can quite relate to her definitely because I am a mummy too myself. Right now, my girls are breathing the same air as me almost all the time, so things are still okay for me. I do not really feel the pinch as yet. Frankly speaking, I cannot really imagine what my mum had to go through or how she felt when she had to let go of us, one by one. When my girls start to slowly distant themselves from me in search of freedom, that’s when I would truly put myself in my mum’s shoes and empathize totally with her.

Giving our kids the space to learn and grow is perhaps one of the scariest things we can ever do as a parent.

Of course we would want to protect them from any possible harm for as long as live. Of course we would want to warn them about the many big bad wolves out there who are just waiting to devour them and bring them down.

But we cannot possibly be doing that forever. We got to start treating our kids in a way that is appropriate for their age. I mean, if they are 5 years old, treat them like one. And if they are 25, do not treat them like they are still 5!

Your kids change, whether you like it or not. Of course it was simpler before, because their choices were more limited. But the more they go through life, the more they will learn. Adulthood will change some of their views in life, no matter how much you might have brainwashed them when they were still small. Marriage will also make them wiser. So how is it possible that you expect them to remain the same forever still? And if they do change, who’s to blame?

NOBODY ACTUALLY.

They are responsible for the choices they make in life.

And even if they decide to that path less travelled by others, let them be.

It’s their life, at the end of the day.

Let them search for their own happiness. Your definition of happiness might not be the same as theirs, and that is perfectly fine.

TOUGH LIFE. But that’s how things work.

One thing will never change though; the bond of a family.

“Blood is thicker than water.”

Why worry about the rest?

Sometimes, we just need to stop thinking about the what ifs and whatnots in life. After all, we will not be here to stay forever. Everything in life is pretty much temporary, so to speak. So shouldn’t we just stop worrying so much about everything, and find what makes us the happiest instead?

“You can’t have real roses, so you buy plastic ones. You can’t think sweet thoughts, so you gobble down sugar. You can’t figure out how to be happy, so you make other people laugh. There’s nothing wrong with what you do, but that’s not real happiness.”

And I am so pretty sure almost every girl grew up to her too. Don’t lie.

So when I got the tickets to watch Barbie™ Live! yesterday, of course I was one happy girl.

YUP, GIRL.

DID I SAY ANYTHING WRONG THERE?

Actually, I was informed about the free tickets like two weeks ago. I excitedly told everyone around me like Tatek and Nurul. In fact, I told almost everybody..all except for The Nadyas! I figured I would surprise them on the day of the show itself.

Oh believe me, it was pretty hard for me to keep secrets from my girls, especially if the secret involves something which I know for sure they will like. All I told them was,

“Mummy has a secret for you girls. You will know what it is on Tuesday, 10 September!”

Of course they tested their luck almost every single day prior to the big show. You know how super curious kids are. Oh let’s not even mention kids here because even I am one super curious person. I will not feel at ease until I know what the secret is. So do not ever EVER try to tell me a secret halfway. It’s either you tell me all, or you do not tell me at all. My curiosity will not only kill me, but you as well. Just saying. LOL.

And so they went…

“Mummy, please just whisper to me what the secret is all about.”

“Mummy, is the secret Universal Studios?”

“I know what the secret is! But I cannot tell you!”

“Is it already Tuesday? What day is it today?”

CANNOT TELL. CANNOT TELL.

CANNOT TELL!!

I thought I had it all nicely planned. I THOUGHT.

Yesterday, hours before the show, I put this up in my Instagram.

And right after I put it up, I placed my handphone on the table and forgot all about it. Suddenly, I noticed that Sharleez had that super shocked expression on her face. Oh-oh.

URGHHHHHHH. SO MUCH FOR THE SECRET AND THE PLANNING.

Believe me, Sharleez felt so bad about finding out because she knew just how excited I was about revealing the surprise to them. Great. What’s next, right?

“SHARLEEZ, JUST KEEP QUIET AND DON’T REVEAL IT TO YOUR SISTERS. OR ELSE, WE WILL GO STRAIGHT HOME.”

Yup, I whispered that to her. I was actually sort of threatening her. No way would she spoil it for me. LOL.

Finally, it was time to reveal when we went to MBS BOX OFFICE to collect the tickets. Imagine how exhilarated my twins were. They were so pleased with me. My ego got higher. I kept asking them to thank me. Such a great feeling of satisfaction, man. LOL.

So anyway, it’s still the September holidays, and Barbie™ Live! is still showing until 14 September 2013.

We truly enjoyed the entire show. Barbie™ teaches her best friend Teresa™ to be brave, believe in herself, and embrace the power of true friendship through lesson learned from her Princess movies like Swan Lake, Princess & the Popstar, and Mariposa & The Fairy Princess. So if you and your girl(s) have been following all of Barbie™ Princess DVDs, then you will feel really connected watching Barbie™ Live!

And no, I totally did not feel like a bimbo watching Barbie™ Live!

It’s not just about the good looks in this so-called perfect world because according to Barbie™, nobody is perfect.

Sharleez is really growing up by the second without me realizing it. To me she has always been my baby. All of a sudden, she is starting to form simple sentences. And of course, Sharleez is not Sharleez without the singing of silly songs. Oh, do you know she has a song for everyone? She has a song for Mummy, Daddy, Dada, Nana, Aat, Ian, Ili, Shafiq, Sri and even the cats and dogs! She basically inserts the subject’s name into the same song. 🙂

In this video, besides the funny song she made up, she was also asking, “Mummy is where?”

And to answer your question baby, Mummy is here.

Mummy will be right here till Monday before Mummy goes to the hospital for a short while to take out the babies from the tummy. Mummy will bring home the babies for you, okay? Please wait for Mummy. 🙁 And why am I crying as I type this entry?